Understanding VA benefits & claims

VA defines a service-connected disability as an illness or injury caused or made worse by your active-duty service. Compensation is paid based on how much the condition is estimated to affect your ability to earn a living.

Mental health conditions count. PTSD, depression and anxiety linked to service can be part of a claim, just like a knee or back injury.

VA health care includes mental health care. Some services, like emergency mental health care and Vet Center counseling, don’t require you to be enrolled first.

VA education benefits can help pay for college, trade school, apprenticeships and job training. The GI Bill hotline is 888-442-4551 (weekdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET).

Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E, also called Chapter 31) is for veterans and service members with a service-connected disability that limits their ability to work. It offers career counseling, help with training or school, and support to find a job, start a business or live more independently.

You may qualify if

• You didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge
• You have a VA disability rating of at least 10%
• If you left service on or after January 1, 2013, there is no time limit to use it

VA pension is for some wartime veterans and their survivors with income and net worth within limits set by Congress. You also need to meet one of these: be 65 or older, have a permanent and total disability, live in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability, or get Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income.

Extra pension money, called Aid and Attendance or Housebound benefits, may help if you need help with daily activities or are mostly stuck at home.

If you’re having trouble paying a home loan, VA offers counseling to veterans and surviving spouses, even if the loan isn’t VA-backed.

Eligible survivors may receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), a Survivors Pension, burial benefits, CHAMPVA health care and more.

Grieving families can also call TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) at 800-959-TAPS (8277), 24/7.

It is common to think a claim should be saved for people who were badly wounded or lost more. But benefits are not a prize for suffering the most. They are based on how a condition linked to service affects your life now.

If you lost friends, guilt can make this feeling stronger. Claiming a benefit doesn’t take anything away from them.

Military culture prizes toughness and taking care of yourself. Asking for anything can feel wrong. It may help to think of benefits as part of the deal you signed up for, the same as pay or leave.

A different way to see it

• A claim is paperwork, not a confession
• Benefits can help you look after your family
• Using what you earned leaves you stronger, not weaker
• You would tell a buddy to file. The same goes for you.

Some veterans have heard stories of long waits or denials, or had one themselves. A denial is not always the end. You can ask for a review, add new evidence, and get free help from an accredited representative.

A mental health claim can mean writing or talking about painful events. That can stir up memories, sleep problems or strong feelings for a while. It’s okay to go slowly, take breaks and have support close by.

You don’t need to share every detail with family or friends. A Vet Center counselor or VA provider can help you get through it. The Vet Center Call Center is 1-877-927-8387, 24/7.

Depression, PTSD and brain injury can all make forms feel impossible. That’s a reason to get help, not a reason to give up. An accredited Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representative can help you file for free.

Make it smaller

• Do one small task a day
• Keep everything in one folder or envelope
• Pick a time of day when your focus is best
• Ask a trusted person to sit with you while you work on it

If you start a claim online and save it, the day you started counts as your claim date, as long as you finish within 365 days. If you file on paper, an intent to file form can hold your place while you gather evidence and may help you get payments back to that date.

• Private medical records and hospital reports
• Statements from family, friends, clergy, law enforcement or people you served with
• VA medical and hospital records

VA also reviews your separation documents and service treatment records. You don’t have to send any evidence yourself, but it can help. You have up to a year after VA gets your claim to send it.

People close to you may have seen changes you didn’t notice in yourself, like poor sleep, a shorter temper or pulling away. Their written statements can be part of your evidence.

A helpful statement often includes

• How they know you, and for how long
• Specific examples, with rough dates
• What they noticed before and after

VA counts fear of hostile military or terrorist activity as a traumatic event. Examples include serving in an imminent danger area, combat with enemy forces, and serving as a drone aircraft crew member.

VA also recognizes other events, like a physical assault, domestic abuse, a car accident, or seeing a death during service.

VA lists sexual assault or harassment as a traumatic event for PTSD claims. Many people never reported what happened, and federal rules say evidence from outside your service records can support your account.

Examples in the rules

• Changes after the event, like a transfer request, a drop in work performance, or anxiety or low mood with no clear cause
• Records from police, rape crisis centers, counseling centers, hospitals or doctors
• Statements from family, roommates, fellow service members or clergy

For care, you don’t need to have reported MST at the time or have proof. VA provides free treatment for physical and mental health conditions related to MST, and every VA medical facility has an MST coordinator.

PTSD symptoms usually start soon after a traumatic event, but they may not appear until months or years later. Retirement, a loss or news of war can bring them to the surface.

What matters for a PTSD claim is that the event happened during service and that you now have a diagnosis, not how long ago you served.

For PTSD claims, VA asks for a form called VA Form 21-0781, a statement about the in-service traumatic event or events.

Ways to make it easier

• Ask a VSO representative to help you with the wording
• Stick to the facts VA asks for. You don’t need to describe every detail.
• Plan something calming for after, like a walk or a call
• Write in short sessions, at a time of day you feel steady

The provider may ask questions about your condition, do a basic physical exam, and order tests at no cost to you. Exams can last from about 15 minutes to an hour or more.

Before you go

• Arrive about 15 minutes early
• Send any new non-VA medical records to VA before the exam
• Wear comfortable clothes

• A specialist does mental health exams, usually within 100 miles of your home
• Telehealth exams are sometimes offered
• You can ask for a caregiver or family member to come with you, though they may be asked to wait outside
• You can request a male or female provider

• Be honest about your worst days, not just your good ones
• Bring notes about how your symptoms affect sleep, work and family
• Plan a calm activity and a check-in call for after
• Try slow breathing in the waiting room: in for 4, out for 6

If you miss an exam, VA may decide your claim using only the evidence it already has. VA will reschedule if you had good cause, such as a death in your immediate family, homelessness, a hospital stay or a terminal illness.

A presumptive condition is one the law treats as caused by service. The PACT Act added more than 20 for burn pits and other toxic exposures, including several cancers and breathing conditions. For the Vietnam era, it added high blood pressure and MGUS (a blood condition) for Agent Orange.

VA offers every enrolled veteran an initial toxic exposure screening and a follow-up at least once every 5 years. You can ask about it at your next appointment or contact your VA facility.

VA says veterans and survivors can file for PACT Act benefits anytime, and those who were denied before may file a Supplemental Claim. The PACT Act line is 800-698-2411 (TTY: 711).

VSO representatives can help you gather evidence, file claims and ask for decision reviews. Many county, state and tribal veterans offices also have accredited staff.

You can find an accredited representative with VA’s online search tool, then appoint them online or with a form you both sign.

Some accredited attorneys and claims agents help for free with first claims, but most help after VA has made a first decision. They can only charge a fee after that first decision, and only with a signed fee agreement that VA has received.

Before you sign anything

• Ask what you’ll pay, and when
• Ask what happens if you want to stop working with them
• Be careful with anyone who promises a certain rating or asks for your login
• Check that they are accredited using VA’s search tool

If someone who isn’t accredited tries to help prepare or present your claim, you can file a complaint with VA. You can also end your work with an accredited representative at any time.

VA gives each service-connected condition a rating as a percentage, based on how much it affects your health and daily functioning. If you have more than one, VA combines them using a table rather than simply adding them, so the total never goes over 100%.

For example, VA says ratings of 50% and 30% combine to 65, which is rounded to a 70% combined rating.

Waiting for a decision about something so personal can be stressful, especially when money is tight. It can help to set a few check-in points, then put it down between them.

• Check your claim status once a week, not every day
• Keep living your plan: sleep, movement, people
• Let your VSO representative do the chasing
• Write down worries, then pick one small action

• Board Appeal: a Veterans Law Judge reviews your case, with or without new evidence or a hearing.
• Higher-Level Review: a more senior reviewer looks at the same evidence. No new evidence.
• Supplemental Claim: you add new and relevant evidence VA didn’t have before.

You need to ask for a Higher-Level Review or a Board Appeal within 1 year of the date on your decision letter.

A denial or a lower rating than you expected can bring up anger, shame or the feeling that your service didn’t count. Those feelings are understandable. A decision about paperwork is not a judgment on you or on what you went through.

• Ask “Would it help if I sat with you while you do this?”
• Help sort papers into one folder
• Offer a ride to the claim exam, and plan something relaxing after
• Write a statement about changes you’ve seen, if they want one

Many VSOs have local posts where veterans help each other with claims. Talking to someone who has been through it can make the process feel less mysterious and less personal.

• Employers: give time off for claim exams
• Faith groups and community centers: host a VSO benefits day
• Libraries: help with scanning and uploading documents
• Everyone: share the VA benefits hotline, 800-827-1000

• GI Bill hotline: 888-442-4551 (weekdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET)
• PACT Act and general VA information (MyVA411): 800-698-2411, 24/7
• VA benefits hotline: 800-827-1000 (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET)

• Vet Center Call Center: 1-877-927-8387, 24/7, to talk with another veteran
• Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988 then press 1, or text 838255

If you served in another country’s forces, ask your country’s veterans’ agency what benefits and support exist. If you are a U.S. veteran living abroad, the Veterans Crisis Line website lists numbers to call from overseas.

Findahelpline.com lists free, confidential helplines in many countries.